Meet the Team

Laura Mitic, PhD, is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Bluefield Project to Cure Frontotemporal Dementia. Dr. Mitic holds a BA degree from Northwestern University and a doctorate degree in cell biology from Yale University. She completed postdoctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco. She and her husband live in San Francisco with their two children.

Greg received his bachelor's degree in Microbiology from Brigham Young University where he developed a new class of influenza inhibitors. He completed his PhD degree at UCSF in Martin Kampmann's Lab. In the Kampmann lab, he studied how the V337M tau mutation perturbs differentiating iPSC-derived neurons. Greg works with the Clelland Lab at the Memory and Aging Center to develop new methods for screening nanoparticle delivery of gene editing therapies.  

Nathaniel comes from Marin County and graduated from Stanford in 2018 with a degree in psychology. At Stanford he worked as a research assistant in Dr. James Gross’ lab studying the regulation of emotions in groups as well as the emotional dynamics between group members. Nathaniel also studied the effects of depression and anxiety on brain structures. At the Memory and Aging Center, he is a research coordinator in the Clinical Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Laboratory, led by Dr. Virginia Sturm.

Sydney is an Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator working alongside Dr. Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, applying intersectionality theory to understand how psychosocial stressors and structural racism and sexism impact Black women's cognitive aging and confer risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Lily is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and minors in gerontology and music and has completed a Master of Science in gerontology at USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Her primary interests include cognition and improving the quality of life for older adults with neurodegenerative diseases. She now works in the Memory and Aging Center at the UCSF Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) and intends to pursue further education in the future.

Heather Murphy Elgin, EdM, is a research coordinator for the UCSF Dyslexia Center’s Multitudes project. Prior to UCSF, she worked in educational research as an instructional coach, reading specialist, special educator, and classroom teacher in Cambridge, New York City, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.

Alissa joined the Seeley Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory in 2011 as a postdoctoral fellow. Her background is in neurodegeneration research. Alissa completed a BSc degree with honors in biomedical science in 2004 and a PhD degree in anatomy in 2009 from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where she investigated the variable pattern of cortical neuronal loss in Huntington’s disease. In the Seeley lab, she is investigating the selective vulnerability of von Economo neurons (VENs) in frontotemporal dementia.

Hong Nguyen joined the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in July 2025 as a research study coordinator under Dr. Vandevrede, supporting Alzheimer’s disease research. She hopes the work conducted at the center will contribute to advancements in Alzheimer’s disease medications for future generations.

Kris is a research lab supervisor at the Memory and Aging Center with 11 years of progressive experience in clinical research. She is currently focused on laboratory operations. Her education is in laboratory sciences and allied health.

Eleanor O'Brien coordinates the educational programs at the Memory and Aging Center.